Lint-cotton feeder.



No. 819,542. PATENTED MAY 1, 1906 J. A. HAGUE,

LINT COTTON FEEDER.

APPLICATION FVILED OCT. 20, 1904.

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J. A. HAGUE.

LINT COTTON FEEDER.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 20, 1904.

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f/VVE/VTOR c jumewAjjmgue No. 819,542. PATENTED MAY 1, 1906.

J. A. HAGUE.

LINT COTTON FEEDER.

APPLIGATION FILED OCT. 20, 1904;

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PATENTED MAY 1, 1906;

J. A. HAGUE. LINT COTTON FEEDER. APPLICATION FILED 00w. zo.,'1904.

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UNITED ,srATns PATENT OFFICE.

* Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 1, 1906.

Application filed October 20, 1904- Serial No. 229,351.

To all whom, it may concern/:-

Be it known that I, JAMES ARTHUR HAGUE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Robinson, in the county of McLennan, State of exas, have invented certain new and use- Improveme'nts, in Lint-Cotton Feeders; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and usethe same. 4

This invention relates to machineryfor use in handlingcotton between the time that it comes from the condenser until it isfed tothe press, the object of the invention being to provide a construction or mechanism which will take the cotton from-the lint slide or chute of the condenser until a suflicient quantity for a bat has been received and then discharge the cotton to a press.

A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism wherein when a suitable quantity of lint has been received the operation of the receiving-aprons will stop and the mechanism may be operated to dischargev the lint after first throwing the mechanism into a neutral position, where there will be no movement of the mechanism which alternately receives and discharges the lint.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will beunderstood from the following description.

- rights 9 and 10 is a In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in which likenumerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the present mechanism, illustrating its arrangement or location with respect to. the chute and hop per of a condenser and press, respectively. Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the rollers and showing a part of the mechanism in elevation. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the apparatus. Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the positions of the parts when shifted todischarge to the hopper of a press. Fig. 5 is a view similarto Fig. 1, showing the mechanism out of operation. a

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a frame'comprising sills'5 and6, having transverse braces 7 and 8, forming a baseframe. in connection withv the sills. 'From the sills rise the uprights 9 and '10, which are connected at their upper ends by the crossbeam ortop 11- I Mounted in suitable bearings in the uproller 13, the trunnion 14- wound upon it.

at one end of which is continued through the uprights 9 and provided with a sprocket-v Wheel 15. A second roller 16 is journaled in the uprights'9 and 10, the trunnion 17 atone end being continuedthrough the upright 9 and provided with a sprocket 19. The roller, 16 is provided with a padded covering 20.

Theupper end portions of the uprights 9. and 10 are slotted longitudinally, as shown at21, andin these slots are slidably mounted boxes 23, in which are journaled the trunnions 24 at the ends of a roller 25, which lies I in close relation and above the roller 16 and is held yieldably in contact therewith .by.

means of the helical springs 26 which rest upon the boxes and have their upper ends against the upper ends' of the slots. 'An

apron 28 is attached at one end to the upper.

most roller and at its opposite end to the lowermost roller, so that whenthe lowermost roller isrotated in one direction the apron will be drawn onto it and wrappedaround it,

and whenv the uppermost roller is operated in the opposite direction the apronwill be re- The apron passes over a guide-roller 28, mounted at the free ends of a U-shaped frame 19,.which isdisposed with its sides against the outer faces of the uprights 9 and 10 and with its web or bight portion 20 across the rear sidesof said uprights.

One trunnion of the roller 28 has at the outer side of the Ug-shaped frame a sprocketwheel 30, with which is engaged a chain 31,,

engaged also with the sprocket-wheel 19, so that these two rollers Will be rotated in uni-. son. Connecting the sides .of the U-shapd frame are the transverse braces v32, which give rigidity to the frame.

forward end in which the roller is mounted may be raised and lowered. r Y

In order to form the cotton-lint into a bat, the roller end of the frame is'lowered, the apronis held in position toreceive thecotton lint from the chute or slide 33 of a cotton-condenser, and at this time the sprocketwheel 19 is roller, so that the belt will be wound on the said roller. The cotton will'be wrapped in the apron around the upper roller and formed into a bat until a sufficlent quantity has been thus received. The -shap'ed frame is then shifted to the opposite position, (illustrated in Fig. 4,) and the s rocket 15 is operated to rotate the lower ro ler and wind the apron The frame is. .plvotedto the uprights 9 and 10, so that its rotatedto rotate the drum or roller 16 and by friction rotate thexupper IIO upon the latter and off from the upper roller, the cotton during this operation being precipitated from the apron at the end of U-shaped frame into the hopper 35 of the cotton-press.

The throwing of the upper and lower rollersprockets into action to move the apron in one direction or the other is accomplis ed by hand or manually; but the driving means is thrown into a neutral position automatically when the apron is wound entirely upon either v the upper or lower roller.

A drive-shaft 36 is journaled inarms 37, which project rearwardly from the uprights 9 and 10 in a plane between the sproc ets 19 and 15, and on this drive-shaft is fixed a sprocket-wheel 37. Pivotally mountedupon the drive-shaft is an arm 38, this arm extending forwardly between and b eyond the sprockets and 19 and having at its forward end a yoke 38, in which is journaled a sprocketwheel 39. A sprocket-chain 40 engages the wheels 37 and 39 and is so disposed that when the arm 38 is swung upwardly the chain will engage the sprocket-wheel 19 to rotate the latter and its drum, and when the arm is swung downwardly the chain is moved into engagement with the sprocket-wheel 15 to positively rotate it with its drum. An arm 41 projects outwardly and then downwardly from the upright 9 and terminates at a point between the sprocket-wheels 15 and 19 where there is an eye 42. v A chain or cable 43 passes through the eye 42 and is attached to the arm 38, so that by drawing down on the chain or cable the arm will be raised to a position where its chain will engage neither of the sprockets 15 and 19, and when the chain or cable is released the arm will swing downwardly by gravity, so that its chain will engage the sprocket-wheel 15. To move the arm 38 positively in a downward direction, a rocker 44 is mounted upon the upright 9 and is connected at one end with the arm 38 by means of a shift-rod 45, so that when said rocker is moved in one direction it will draw the arm positively in a downward direction with its chain into engagement with the sprocket-wheel 15, and when the rocker is moved in the opposite direction said rod will raise the arm and move its chain into engagement with the upper sprocket-wheel 19. Chains or cables 47 and 48 are attached to the ends of the rocker and extend downwardly through suitable guides 49 and 50, so that they may be conveniently operated for the purposes above described. The rocker is held normally and yieldably in a neutral position by means of the helical spring 48, which is mounted upon a support 49 on the side of the upright 9, the upper end of the helical spring receiving a depending pin 50 directly below the pivot of the rocker.

Where the present apparatus is located on the upper floor of a building and the cottonpresses on the lower floor,

the operating chains or cables for the rocker may extend into close proximity to the baling-press, so as to insure operation of the mechanism to receive and discharge the lint at the proper time.

The chain or cable 43 passes also through a guide-eye 51 at the side of the base-frame of the apparatus and then downwardly into proximity to the baling-press, so that it may be operated manually to swing the arm 38 with its chain into neutral position. A stop 52 is formed on the cable 43 which engages the lower guide-eye above referred to and limits the upward movement of the cable at a point where the driving-chain engages the sprocket-wheel 15, so that if the cable be grasped above this lower eye and drawn sidewise the arm may be raised with its chain to carry thelatter out of engagement with the lower sprocket-wheel. This truth is resorted to in automatically stopping the feeding of the apron when the apron has been unwound to its limit in either direction. In the apron is an opening 55 and upon the baseframe are mounted rock-shafts 56 and 57, having arms'58 and 59, so dis osed that as the apron is wound or unwoun with respect to the lower roller the free end of either arm will engage the eye, so that the arm will be swung laterally and rock its shaft. The rock-shafts have crank-arms 58 and 59, which are connected by lines 60 and 61 with a rocker 62, which is pivoted to the upright 9 and has at its upper end a weight 60, so that when this rocker is swung, so that its weight passes over the center of oscillation of the rocker, said weight will carry the rocker farther and with considerable force. The rocker has laterally-directed hook-arms 61 and 62, which project in opposite directions and are so disposed that when the rocker is swung in either direction to carry the weight over the center of oscillation the continued movement of the rocker under the influence of the weight will engage the corresponding arm with the cable 43, the weight being sufficient to draw on the cable with enough force to raise the drive-chain from the sprocketwheel 15.

When the belt has been nearly completely wound on the roller 13, the end of the arm 59 engages the hole therein and causes the shaft 57 to rock. There being connections between the levers or arms 58 and 59, the said arm 58 is also rocked to the position shown in Fig. 1. -When the operation of winding the belt from the roller 13 to the roller 25 is commenced, the arm 58 will engage the opening in the belt and rock the said arm 58 and the arm 59 to their former positions, elevating the frame 19 to bring the roller end thereof out of engagement with the lint-slide 33. This weighted rocker serves also to hold the arm 38 with the drive-chain normally in inactive position.

In order that the U-shaped carrying-frame may be shifted from one position to the other when the arm 38 is shifted to effect opposite winding of the apron, a rod 63 is connected to a side of the U-shaped frame and to the arm 38, so that when the latter is swung upwardly the outer end of the U-shaped frame will be swung downwardly, and vice versa. The U- shaped frame is held normally and yieldably out of engagement with lint-slide 33 by means of a helical spring 65, which is connected to a lever 66, mounted at one end upon the-upright 9 and having attached to itsopposite end a chain or cable 67, which is connected to the transverse portion of the rear end of the U-shaped frame, the helical spring being attached to a part of the baseframe of the mechanism and tending to hold the said lever in lowered position.

What is claimed is 1. An apparatus of the class described, comprising upper and lower rollers, a bat-receiving apron attached at its ends to the rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other, a supporting-roller below the upper roller and adapted to support the weight of said roller with a bat thereon and with respect to which the upper roller is vertically movable, a frame pivoted at a oint between the upper and lower rollers an a guide-roller mounted in the frame and over which the apron is passed, said guide-roller being movable with the frame above and below the elevation of the supporting-roller to hold the 1apron in position to receive and discharge a 2. An apparatus of the class described comprising upper and lower rollers, a bat-receiving apron attached at its ends to the rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other of the rollers, a supporting-roller below the upper roller and adapted to support the weight of the upper roller, a pivoted frame, a

guide-roller in the pivoted frame over which the apron is passed, said guide-roller being spaced forwardly from the first-named rollers and being movable with the frame into raised and lowered positions, sprocket-wheels carried by the supporting-roller and the lower.

roller, a drive-chain movable into engagement with said s rocket-wheels interchangeably and means or shifting said frame simultaneously with the shifting of the chain.

'3. An apparatus of the class described, comprising upper andlower rollers, an apron attached to the rollers and adapted to be wound from one to the other and to receive and convey a bat, sprocket-wheels for conveying motion to said rollers, a drive-chain movable into operative engagement with the sprocket-wheels interchangeably and to lie in a neutral position, means for shifting the chain into either of its engaging positions and means for shifting the chain to its neutral position at a predetermined point of winding of the apron in either direction.

4. An apparatus of the class described comprising upper and lower rollers, an apron attached to the rollers and adapted to be wound from either to the other and to receive and discharge a bat, a pivoted frame, a guideroller mounted in the frame and over which the apron is passed, said guide-roller being movable with the frame to different elevations, a supporting-roller for the upper roller, sprocket-wheels carried by the supportingroller and the lower roller, a drive-shaft an.

arm pivoted upon the drive-shaft and lying the first-named sprockets, connections between the arm and pivoted frame-for shifting the latter, and means for automatically shifting the driving-chain into inactive position at a predetermined point of winding of the apron in each direction.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES ARTHUR HAGUE.

Witnesses HARRY HoLMEs, J. A. JOLLY. 

